An Iranian official has challenged U.S. efforts to strip Iran of enrichment rights, arguing that President Donald Trump himself has said joint U.S.-Israeli strikes had already crippled Tehran’s nuclear capability.
“The western media goes on about our cooperation with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] and stockpiles, but the western public has to remember the outrageous [acts] committed by Israel and the U.S.,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in an interview with The Guardian on Monday.
Newsweek has contacted the U.S. State Department for comment.
Why It Matters
Tensions spiked in June during the 12-Day War after Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, with Tehran limiting the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspections. European states triggered a “snapback” sanctions mechanism, but all sides have said there is still room for diplomacy—although the dispute over Iran’s right to enrich uranium remains at the heart of the standoff.
Iran may respond by ending the already limited U.N. oversight of its nuclear program, raising tensions over potential weapons development.
What To Know
In the Guardian interview, Baqaei criticized France, Germany and the U.K. for aligning with U.S. and Israeli interests.
Tehran has also voiced a lack of trust in the U.N. watchdog agency, which it says has issued “politicized” reports about Iran’s noncompliance to nuclear commitments under the expiring Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the 2015 nuclear deal that Trump unilaterally abandoned in 2018.
The U.S. welcomed the snapback decision by the E3 countries—France, Britain and the U.K.—and said it would coordinate efforts with allies to ensure the reinstatement of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran, the U.S. State Department said.
Baqaei said Iran remained willing to engage with the United States, stressing that repeated messages to Washington had gone unanswered.
What People Are Saying
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei told The Guardian: “The Europeans are doing what Trump dictated to them. … They tried to prove they were credible negotiating partners. But now the Europeans have decided to be the proxy of the U.S. and Israel. It is absolutely irresponsible of them to hand over that role to the U.S.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in statement on August 28: “Snapback does not contradict our earnest readiness for diplomacy, it only enhances it. I urge Iranian leaders to take the immediate steps necessary to ensure that their nation will never obtain a nuclear weapon; to walk the path of peace; and to, by extension, advance prosperity for the Iranian people.”
Hamidreza Azizi, a visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, told Deutsche Welle on Monday: “The U.S. shows no interest in a new nuclear agreement.”
He added: “In Washington, they seem convinced that they have already militarily contained the dangerous aspects of Iran’s nuclear program. Washington’s conditions are conditions that are difficult for the Islamic Republic to accept.”
What Happens Next
Baqaei suggested that Iran was willing to lower uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent under a new deal, provided its domestic right to enrichment was preserved. It remains unclear whether nuclear diplomacy with the U.S. will be revived.
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